Hero-Myths and Legends of the British Race

Page: 127

Honour from the King

After this high-handed punishment of their enemies
Gamelyn and his brother went to lay their case before
King Edward, and he forgave them, in consideration of
all the wrongs and injuries Gamelyn had suffered; and
before they returned to their distant county the king
made Otho sheriff of the county, and Gamelyn chief
forester of all his free forests; his band of outlaws
were all pardoned, and the king gave them posts
according to their capabilities. Now Gamelyn and his
brother settled down to a happy, peaceful life. Otho,
having no son, made Gamelyn his heir, and the latter
married a beauteous lady, and lived with her in joy till
his life’s end.

CHAPTER XI: WILLIAM OF
CLOUDESLEE

Introduction

THE outlaw of mediæval England has always
possessed a potent charm for the minds of less
rebellious persons. No doubt now the attraction
has somewhat waned, for in the exploration of
distant lands and the study of barbaric tribes men can
find that breadth of outlook, that escape from narrow
conventionalities, which they could formerly gain only
by the cult of the “noble outlaw.” The romance of
life for many a worthy citizen must have been found
in secret sympathy with Robin Hood and his merry
band of banished men, robbing the purse-proud to help
the needy and gaily defying law and authority.

To the poor, however, the outlaw was something
more than an easy entrance to the realms of romance;
he was a real embodiment of the spirit of liberty. Of
all the unjust laws which the Norman conquerors laid
upon England, perhaps the most bitterly resented were
the forest laws, and resistance to them was the most
popular form of national independence. Hence it
follows that we find outlaw heroes popular very early
in our history—heroes who stand in the mind of the
populace for justice and true liberty against the oppressive
tyranny of subordinate officials, and who are always
taken into favour by the king, the fount of true justice.

Famous Outlaws

There is some slight tinge of the “outlaw hero” in
Hereward, but the outlaw period of that patriot’s life
is but an episode in his defence of England against
William the Norman. There is a fully developed outlaw
hero, the ideal of the type, in Robin Hood, but he
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has been somewhat idealized and ennobled by being
transformed into a banished Earl of Huntingdon. Less
known, but equally heroic, is William of Cloudeslee,
the William Tell of England, whose fame is that of a
good yeoman, a good archer, and a good patriot.

The Outlaws

In the green forest of Englewood, in the “North
Countree,” not far from the fortified town of Carlisle,
dwelt a merry band of outlaws. They were not evildoers,
but sturdy archers and yeomen, whose outlawry
had been incurred only for shooting the king’s deer.
Indeed, to most men of that time—that is, to most men
who were not in the royal service—the shooting of deer,
and the pursuit of game in general, were not only
venial offences, but the most natural thing in life. The
royal claim to exclusive hunting in the vast forests of
Epping, Sherwood, Needwood, Barnesdale, Englewood,
and many others seemed preposterous to the yeomen
who lived on the borders of the forests, and they took
their risks and shot the deer and made venison pasty,
convinced that they were wronging no one and risking
only their own lives. They had the help and sympathy
of many a man who was himself a law-abiding citizen,
as well as the less understanding help of the town mob
and the labourers in the country.